Connecticut May Buy Yale-Backed Tennis Tournament, Malloy Says

Connecticut is considering buying
the rights to the New Haven Open, a women’s tennis tournament
hosted by Yale University that the governor’s office says
generates $26 million for the local economy.

The state’s Capital Region Development Authority will vote
next week on purchasing the rights to the event, Governor Dannel Malloy said today in a statement. Andrew Doba, a Malloy
spokesman, said the state would pay $618,000 for the tournament,
one of the WTA tour’s hard-court tuneups before the U.S. Open in
New York.

“This tournament has created both economic and community
development opportunities in the City of New Haven for 16
years,” said Malloy, a Democrat. “Economic development for our
urban environments, and the state as a whole, is a fundamental
component of the state’s agenda and we view the New Haven Open
as another chapter in bolstering this effort.”

Without the purchase, the governor said, the tournament
would probably leave Connecticut.

The tournament has been held in New Haven for 16 years, and
past winners include Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Steffi Graf
and Caroline Wozniacki. It was also a stop on the men’s ATP Tour
from 2005 to 2010.

The vote will take place on Oct. 17. The 2014 tournament is
scheduled to be held from Aug. 15 to Aug. 23.